Economics of Small Tea Farming System (STFS): An in-depth Study of North Bengal,India

The study was conducted to find out the pattern of labour engagement (both family andhired labour), price realization of different type of small tea growers and economic analysisof the small tea growing system. Small tea growers of Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur districtof West Bengal were selected purposively. The present study mainly considered primarydata for analysis and a small amount of secondary data was also collected from records ofConfederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association (CISTA) and Self-Help Group(SHG) registers. It has been found that there is a variation in price of green leaves in bothdistricts and higher rates are observed in the month of March. SHGs with own processingunits were found to fetch higher prices compared to other units because of their collectivebargaining power, absence of middlemen and owing co-operative processing units. Numberof such SHGs, with processing units were found in Jalpaiguri district whereas, UttarDinajpur district recorded no SHG with own processing units. The economic analysis alsopresented a clear picture about fixed and operational cost, gross return with or withoutdividend and benefit cost ratio.